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How to make the most of your experience

Having just graduated and beginning the search for a job in engineering or IT, you might be struggling to figure out how your CV can be made to look as impressive as possible, despite a lack of experience. A few tips and tricks can help you figure out the easiest way to show yourself off and get the fantastic engineering job you want.

Firstly, figure out what you have done and its relevance to the position you are applying for. You can do this by writing down all your experiences, then making notes as to which are useful for this application. These can be anything – part time jobs, voluntary work or a university course with specific requirements. Explain your motivation for each experience and what they actually entailed. In this way, you quickly establish what drives you, something that is important for a potential employer to see.

It’s important to make the experiences you have sound good too. So rather than “I worked in a pub,” write “whilst working at the Rose and Crown, I managed customer satisfaction, handled transactions…”, this way you’re explaining what it was you actually did, rather than just saying that you were employed. It means that your responses are far more relevant to the employer, as they can see how the skills you used can be transferred to a different working environment.

Some skills to indicate you have gained include leadership skills, professionalism, the willingness to learn (which you can indicate through projects that you took part in during your studies) and how successful you have been previously. In this, include ways that you have improved organisations that you have been involved in, thereby demonstrating your ability to help the company. Added to this your willingness to learn, and it becomes clear to the employer that you can both improve the business and yourself.

Revise your CV repeatedly, taking on any improvements or suggestions that are given. Through this you will eventually end up with a CV that is perfect in its vocabulary and grammar, thus ensuring that you are not rejected for carelessness.